Keep Dancing
by padfoot's prose
Summary: Gabriella's voice was beautiful. It danced over the tune effortlessly, rising and falling evenly, yet still revealing the pain that the words drew from her. There were aways memories, plauging her as she tried to escape from her past. Sequel to This Dance


**I watched HSM3 in the cinema yesterday and fell in love with this song all over again. I just HAD to write a sequel, and if all goes well, I think there will be five parts in total of my 'Can I Have This Dance' miniseries. I plan to post them all as sepearte oneshots cos they will make sense as standalones, but be better if read in order.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned HSM3, Troy wouldn't have torn down that big banner of himself (the one in the cafeteria which he pulls down in 'Scream'). He would have taken it down careufully, folded it up neatly and given it to me. And also have sung 'Scream' shirtless. Duh.**

**For _Tegan_.**

It was cold. Cold enough that a twelve year-old Gabriella Montez's breaths came out as little puffs of steam. But not yet cold enough for the frostbite to start setting in. Still, it was cold.

Shivers wracked through the young girl's body, every inch of her bronze skin erupting in a wave of goosebumps. A whimper escaped from her pale lips as a sharp breeze swept by, lifting the hem of her white-and-blue-patterned dress. Gabriella's hand quickly gripped the thin material, forcefully holding it in place until the wind had stopped, and she was able to once again dissolve into a wave of silent tears.

As she looked out over the unfamiliar city lights, Gabriella bowed her head down, chocolate eyes fixed on her hands, curled up in her lap. This was the fifth time that her and her mother had moved in as many years. A new state, a new city, a new house. It was supposed to make everything better. It was supposed to be a way to escape from the past, to embrace the future. But it seemed impossible for them to get comfortable anywhere. Wherever they moved to, no matter what they did, there were always memories, haunting the corners and crevices of their minds. Plaguing them as they tried desperately to let go of their tragic past.

Alan Montez, Gabriella's father, had died five years ago from cancer. To Gabriella, it still felt like yesterday that she'd been able to lie on his lap as they watched TV together, or stand on his feet and dance with him around the yard of their house. Their old house, that is. She hadn't seen that yard for years, let alone danced in it.

A fresh stream of tears engulfed Gabriella, and her shivers became more violent, rocking her entire body as despair washed through her.

Moving away hadn't made a difference. Maybe it had even made it worse. Because now there was nothing left of her father except the memories. There was no grave that she could visit when she wanted to talk to him, no place that she curl up and imagine that he was there with her. Alan Montez had never known of this quiet house on the outskirts of Seattle. He had never sat at the edge of this yard, looking out over the city lights below. He probably wouldn't even recognise his daughter if he saw her now, so many years later.

And all of that just made it hurt so much more. It didn't lessen the pain one little bit for his sobbing daughter.

Another gust of wind rustled the leaves on the lone tree in the weedy mess of a garden. Gabriella gasped as the cold stung her skin, the physical pains in her body finally coming close to the mental ones. What with the stinging breeze, the terrible shivering, the pounding headache and the general sore feeling that comes from sitting outside in the cold, Gabriella could almost begin to forget about the pain within her.

Almost forget. She could never truly forget, not when the memories seemed to following her everywhere, threatening to overwhelm her at any time, any place. They were just so... _real_. So genuine. She could remember every moment spent with her father in perfect, chrystal clarity. His expressions, his words, the way his tummy rumbled when he laughed - they were all still there, imprisoned forever in her mind to troture her at times like these.

_A solitary tear trailed down his cheek.  
_"_Daddy?" Her young voice was full of concern for her father.  
__A shaky smile forced itself onto his lips. "It's nothing, sweetie."_

_Nothing_. That's what he had told her. _It's nothing_. But it wasn't nothing. It was something. Something deep and painful; something that she would never truly recover from. Nothing is what Alan Montez had left when he'd died. Pain, grief and despair is what his death had been. His death certainly hadn't been _nothing_. his death had been _everything_. Gabriella's entire world had crashed down around her on that day until nothing was left but the pain.

"Gabi!" Her mother's voice rang out across the empty yard, echoing eerily over to the city far below.

Gabriella didn't turn to look at her mother, barely even noticing her call through the flood of pain that had come with the memory of her father.

Christine Montez squinted around the garden, trying to see through the clinging darkness of the night. A small pool of light from the kitchen surrounded her, doing little to illuminate areas more than a couple of metres away.

"Gabi!" She called again, her voice rising as her gaze searched the yard for her daughter. Gabriella wouldn't have run away. She couldn't have. It could take hours to find her in this huge city. And if she got lost…

"Gabi!" Christine's tone was bordering on hysterical now as she stepped out of the pool of light and onto the first of the trail of mossy stepping-stones that led through the yard.

A choked sob came from the far corner, and Christine hurried towards there, the shape of her young daughter appearing, silhouetted against the brightness of the city lights below her.

"Oh, Gabi," Christine's sigh of relief at finding her daughter was coupled with her speeding steps as she tried to navigate her way through the mess of weeds towards Gabriella.

More whimpers escaped from Gabriella's frozen lips as her mother approached, slowly growing in volume until they became long cries of pain and loss. A greater flood of tears than she;d ever before experienced suddenly cascaded from her eyes, drowning her soft features beneath them.

And then, as if it were possible for a single person to rid her entire being of this pain, it all stopped. A pair of warm, comforting arms held Gabriella's body, pulling her close to the sweet-smelling apron that only a mother would wear. The tears were wiped from her cheeks by a soft piece of cloth that smelt like vanilla and roses and fresh, green grass. A cloth that smelt like her mother.

Christine hugged her daughter tight against her chest, wishing that she could take all of her terrible pain away. She wished that she could whisper to her daughter about making everything better, about fixing everything that had ever gone wrong in their lives. She wished that could truly say that everything would be fine. But the mother couldn't lie to her daughter. Not about this. So instead she closed her eyes as her own tears dropped silently into Gabriella's ebony hair, so similar to her father's, and began to sing.

"Take my hand,  
Take a breath,  
Pull me close,  
And take one step.  
Keep your eyes locked on mine,  
And let the music be your guide."

Gabriella let out another sob, trying desperately to close her ears to the familiar words. It was too much pain, too many memories. Her mother pulled her closer, unwilling to let go of the sole beautiful thing left in her life.

"Won't you promise me,  
That you'll never forget -  
You'll keep dancing  
Wherever we go next."

The honesty of the words, the sheer truth that they held took Gabriella's breath away. It was as if her father had known what would happen when he'd sung this to her, all those years ago. Like, with this song, he'd been preparing her for this pain, forewarning her about it.

And then the chorus started. The words that had once felt so magical to Gabriella, but had, since her father's death, only brought her pain. Now they finally rung aloud again, spoken in the soft, tender voice of her loving, grieving mother.

"It's like catching lightning,  
The chances of having someone like you.  
It's one in a million,  
The chances of feeling the way I do.  
And with every step together,  
We just keep on getting better.  
So can I have this dance?"

As if by instinct, Gabriella's soft voice joined her mother's.

"So can I have this dance?  
Can I have this dance?"

Christine's tears stopped as she heard her daughter sing the couple of lines. Her voice was beautiful. It danced over the tune as if it were effortless, rising and falling evenly, yet still revealing the pain that the words drew from her.

Swallowing her tears, Christine hugged her daughter closer for a moment before softly pushing her from her lap. As she begun to sing the next verse, she stood, offering her hand to pull Gabriella up with her.

"Take my hand,  
I'll take the lead,  
And every turn will be safe with me.  
Don't be afraid – afraid to fall,  
You know I'll catch you through it all."

Gabriella looked up at her mother and their eyes met. They were in this together. This didn't have to be all _her_ pain. It could be _their_s. They could face it together. She accepted her mother's hand, and let herself fall against the warmth and comfort of her body as they took the first cautious step in their dance.

"And you can't keep us apart  
'Cause my heart is wherever you are."

Her mother looked down at Gabriella, both pairs of identical dark brown eyes full of a new hope. They shared a smile as Christine fell silent, closing her eyes as her daughter's voice, so much stronger and beautiful than ever before, took over the song.

"It's like catching lightning,  
The chances of having someone like you.  
It's one in a million,  
The chances of feeling the way I do.  
And with every step together,  
We just keep on getting better.  
So can I have this dance?  
Can I have this dance?"

"No mountains too high and no oceans too wide,  
'Cause together or not, our dance won't stop.  
Let it rain, let it pour.  
What we have is worth fighting for.  
You know I believe that you were meant to be."

Gabriella gasped as her mother lifted her off the ground with surprising strength, and held her for a few seconds high off the ground. It felt amazing, soaring through the air. Like, as long as that pair of arms held her high, anything would be possible.

"It's like catching lightning,  
The chances of having someone like you  
It's one in a million,  
The chances of feeling the way I do.  
And with every step together,  
We just keep on getting better.  
So can I have this dance?  
Can I have this dance?  
Can I have this dance?

"Can I have this dance?  
Can I have this dance?"

Their dance finished and they stopped, smiling at one another. The gusts of icy wind hardly tickled Gabriella's skin, and despite the cold, she felt warm. Hopeful. It was a very new feeling for her. And, she could see as she looked into her mother's eyes, she really did have a reason to be hopeful. A new spark shone in there, one that Gabriella thought had gone out when her father died. Yet still, Christine's eyes shone with new light as she looked down at her daughter.

In Gabriella there was everything that a mother could want in her daughter – beauty, patience, grace and, most importantly, love. And hope. Hope was important too. It wasn't that it her husband's death no longer mattered, it had just fallen in level of importance. Christine would always love her husband, regardless of whether or not she could be with him. But she would also always love her daughter. And, as Gabriella was the one who was here right now, she was of greater importance. Christine regretted it having takn so long for her to figure that out.

Gabriella looked up at her mother questioningly. She knew what she was feeling – hope for a new future, for a new way of life – but she wasn't sure if she was allowed to feel it. Was she allowed to finally let go of her father? Had five years been enough to mourn for him? The words of his song came back to her, ringing through her head, sung by her father in his deep, tender voice,

_No mountains too high and no oceans too wide,  
'Cause together or not, our dance won't stop.  
Let it rain, let it pour.  
What we have is worth fighting for._

No, five years wasn't enough. A hundred years wouldn't be enough. But did she really have to mourn this way? Wouldn't her father have wanted her life to go on wihout him? Yes, he would have. Gabriella had been as close to her father as a father and daughter could be. She had loved – and still did love – him with all of her heart. But, when he had sung that song to her, Alan Montez had known he was going to die. He had been preparing her for a world without him in it. With his song, he had been teaching her to let go of the pain, the despair and the loss. He had been telling her to remember him – remember the happiness and the love that they shared – but to move on.

_Together or not, our dance won't stop._

"We have to let go of him." Gabriella's voice rung with certainty. It wasn't a question. It was a statement. An order.

Her mother nodded. "I know."

A single tear escaped, revealing Gabriella's true feeling behind her careful composure. "Even though he isn't here to live with me, I want to be able live again. Without him."

"Me too."

Gabriella stepped back and held out her hand towards her mother. "To a new beginning. A _real_ new beginning, not like the others."

Christine let out a reluctant laugh at her daughter's words and actions, but met her eyes with sincerity as she grasped her hand. "A new beginning."

And so, together, their hands still joined securely, the two started back towards the house. The pool of light from the kitchen embraced them as they entered it, Christine turning and closing the door behind them. The dinner had burnt, but as a rare treat, they ordered in a pizza, and settled in front of the TV to watch a movie. It was just like old times, but where Alan Montez had once sat, his daughter's head resting on his lap, his wife now went. She stroked Gabriella's ebony hair, so similar to her father's, and knew, with more clarity and confidence than anything she had ever known before, that this was it. This was their new beginning. And this time, it was going to work.

---

Four years later, Gabriella Montez was pushed onto a stage at a New Year's party, nervous and unsure. For only the third time in her life, a voice, singing a few well-chosen words, had managed to engage her, to pull her out of her anxious exterior, and convince her reveal the kind, passionate girl inside. A brown-haired boy stood on stage beside her, looking just as uncomfortable and out-of-place as she did. As he made to back down off the stage, he turned at the sound of her voice, just a beautiful as it had been when she'd sung with her father all those years ago, and then again with her mother at their house in Seattle.

Despite the fact that they didn't even know each other's names, when Troy Bolton's eyes met for the first time with Gabriella's Montez's, something flowed between them. Something _real_.

At the time, neither of them knew what it was. Was it just a simple plea to one another to finish singing this song, to just do this one little thing so as to save them from embarrassment? Or was it something more?

In Gabriella's mind, as she sung new words to a new song, a far older tune played in her mind. Without noticing, as her father's old song echoed through her head, the words changed, shifting to take on a whole new meaning.

_It's like catching lightning,  
The chances of finding someone like you.  
It's one in a million,  
The chances of feeling the way we do.  
And with every step together,  
We just keep on getting better.  
So can I have this dance?  
Can I have this dance?  
Can I have this dance?_

Gabriella was sure, surer than she'd been about anything before, that, as this boy's voice blended with her own, matching it perfectly just as her father's had, that look hadn't been nothing. Just like her father had been, Troy Bolton was everything but nothing.

* * *

**I decided on this ending because it's supposed to imply that Troy's presence in Gabriella's life will have to compensate for her not having a father, therefore he has to fulfil the role of the two most important male figures in her life. Don't overthink that, cos it gets a bit gross, but I sort of like the idea of Troy being both Gabi's 'protector' and lover (for lack of a better word).**

**Review? I'd love to know what people thought of this, and if they think it'd be worth continuing.**


End file.
